Posts tagged as "customer_service" - Chris Hardie

Based on a true story: Them: "Please fill out our online form and we'll get back to you right away!" You in online form: "Hi.  I'm trying to find the button that does the thing I want, and your documentation says it should be there but it's not - can you tell me how to do the thing I want?" Them: "Thank you for opening your tech support case - your question is very important to us.  We will get back to you very soon now." Them: "Hi there, my name is Tech Support Rep#2342 and I'm going...

Bank interface story #1: Got a new debit card for a new checking account.  Sticker on card says "must be activated at an ATM before use."  Went to ATM at bank, inserted card, entered temporary PIN (securely mailed in a separate envelope).  ATM menu came up, one option was "Change PIN."  Entered new PIN.  ATM said "Card is being retained" and ended my session. What the heck. Went inside bank, asked teller what's up.  Our conversation, paraphrased:  "You can't change your PIN on the first...

I offer this account of trying to address a known (and I would say, severe) bug in the iPhone 4 mail software, in case it's helpful to others: Ever since I upgraded my iPhone to IOS4 (the latest version of the phone's operating system), the Mail application has been flaky when it comes to syncing mail messages via IMAP. Duplicate messages, empty/blank messages, messages dated 12/31/1969, messages that are deleted and then re-appear, and so on. At first I thought it might be my phone hardware,...

A few short stories of recent FAIL and WIN experiences in customer service: Trying to stop getting unsolicited postal mail from Comcast I'm not a Comcast customer, haven't been for a long time, and never at my current address. I get postcards, letters and brochures from them on a regular basis - sometimes several times a week.  It's annoying and wasteful.  I searched the Comcast website and the Internet at large for a while for a web-based form to get on a "do not send me mail" list, and couldn't...

Once in a while I can't help but comment here on a company or organization that has so clearly committed themselves to creating the worst possible customer service experience for their customers.  Interpage paging, which offers network paging services, faxing, voice and e-mail gateways, etc., is just one such company.  If you're considering using them, you'll definitely want to make sure you ask lots of questions about what happens if you're not satisfied.  Here's our story: Summersault contacted...

I love the Sonos multi-room music system.  It's a ridiculous luxury to have and I could fill up another blog post apologizing for it, but it's too much a fulfillment of the dreams I had as a kid about what the households of the future could be like to pass it up.  "Wait, you mean I can have N-Trance's Set U Free blaring in every room of the house at once, perfectly in sync?  OMG!"  I used to do this with FM transmitters, spaghetti audio wiring, and various mediocre gadgets - not any more. But...

(Some of my blog posts are constructive, this one is pure rant.) There's a new amusement park ride opening up in town!  It'll take you on a thrilling journey through ups and downs of successful projects, communication failures, happy long-term partnerships, and total failures in competence.  It's called THE CONTRACTOR EXPERIENCE and you can hop on it today by opening up the phone book and calling pretty much any contractor you want to try to get some work done on your home or business! Okay,...

This is another customer service observation, though hopefully not one that isn't already completely obvious. I recently had some new carpet installed in an apartment that I rent out (which, by the way, is available again at the beginning of August, if you're interested), and it was the first time I'd ever hired anyone to install carpet. I felt fortunate to have been recommended to a local carpet sales company by a person I trust, but the end result was pretty disappointing. They did a great job with...

Presenting: another epic saga of wireless phone company incompetence...bear with me. I'd had my Sprint cell phone and plan since 2001 - six years of relatively problem free operation (minor billing annoyances aside). And they recognized that I was a loyal customer who always paid my bill on time - in recent years they regularly sent me offers to "upgrade my plan" or my phone and receive a billing credit (but we all know this is because they wanted me to renew my vows and sign on to a new contract). Recently,...

I called the sales team at Linksys today to ask for help in picking which one of their products Summersault wanted to purchase. I saw this notice on their "contact us" web page: Due to a major earthquake in the South-Pacific area, telephone, internet circuits, and services from the United States have interrupted our call center operations. We apologize for any inconvenience or delay and appreciate your patience. I felt bad for them, but carried on and called them anyway, assuming that they...